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Knicks 113, Wizards 100 (OT) & Other News

With the trading deadline set for 3 p.m. tomorrow, Zach Randolph helped his cause for a change of address by scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also got into a heated exchange with Nate Robinson that saw Randolph toss a cup of water at his teammate and Robinson respond by throwing a towel at Randolph.

Isiah Thomas admitted the trade value of his players have dropped because of their awful season, which reduces the chances of the Knicks New York Knicks making a blockbuster at tomorrow’s deadline…

The Nuggets and Knicks have discussed a multi-player deal with Randolph, but it’s not expected to happen. Nuggets GM Mark Warkentien drafted Randolph in 2001 (19th overall) when he ran Portland’s scouting department. Linas Kleiza is an up-and-coming young big man the Knicks have interest in, but Randolph’s stock is not high enough to land him. The Nuggets believe Randolph would take away too many shots from Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony.

30 comments on “Knicks 113, Wizards 100 (OT) & Other News”

Christ, if Isiah trades for Vince Carter, I am buying a Dirk Nowitzki fathead and immediately declaring Dallas as my team. Is it possible that Dolan is dumb enough to let Isiah make another ‘blockbuster’ trade to set the Knicks back 10 years?

“Thomas provided a jaw-dropping quote Tuesday when he was asked if his goal is to make trades that would help the Knicks to get under the salary cap. “That’s not our goal,” Thomas said.”

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Isiah would say such a stupid, idiotic, moronic, ass-faced comment. It’s one thing to keep him around until after the season just for the hell of it, but to give him the power to fuck this team over even worse than he already has is criminal.

Just read Frank Isola’s article: “A report on ESPN.com last night also said that the Nets, Knicks and Heat have had discussions about a three-way deal that would send Carter to the Knicks, Eddy Curry to Miami and the expiring contracts of Jason Williams and Ricky Davis to New Jersey.”

Looks like Isiah is looking to revamp his fantasy basketball team again. I thought we needed a point guard?

And what is all the hype with Linas Kleiza? Every article I read says that the Knicks “covet” this guy. Question: does he really fill a need? A 6’8″ 245 lb SF playing PF? Wouldn’t he be taking minutes from Lee, Balkman, and Chandler?

Is the goal to have him replace Jeffries or Q at SF, and dump Zach’s contract? I just don’t see where this guy fits in.

Kleiza is only 22 and a pretty nice player – good shooter, good rebounder for a SF – but I wouldn’t give up Balkman to get him. (maybe if we were dumping Randolph in the process, but that’s a tough call).

Aside from that… maybe it’s just my inner optimist talking, but Isiah isn’t as stupid as we talk about here. I don’t take his public comments seriously – he always plays it close to the vest, and hardly ever says what he’s really thinking.
I mean, his problems as GM are self-evident, but do you really want or expect him to share his real feelings in public? “My center is a pathetic, overpaid loser. How about you give me a lottery pick for the guy? Oh, Eddy, hope you’re psyched up for the game tonight.”

My guess is the Carter rumors come from west of the Hudson. Test balloon. One of the papers actually had a “Knick official” shooting down the idea; you know the Garden is like a bunker and no one talks to the press without official say-so.

Kleiza scores pretty efficiently: TS%: 59.0 this year, 56.4% career. He can hit the three as well as get to the line. If he’s a SF, his rebounding is decent, and 82g has him playing SF much more often than PF.

“Question: does he really fill a need? A 6?8? 245 lb SF playing PF? Wouldn’t he be taking minutes from Lee, Balkman, and Chandler?”

Possibly, although I’d say it’s hard to take away minutes from Chandler, since Wilson doesn’t get any minutes. But that’s a good question: does Kleiza fit a need? He certainly appears to be a younger/better version of Quentin Richardson, and it also seems he would be an offensive complement to Balkman/Jeffries. On the other hand, isn’t this what Wilson Chandler is suppose to be?

It’s funny, it’s hard to get a gauge on this team, because of the on the court mismanagement by the coach. If minutes were given to Lee/Balkman/Chandler/Morris I think everyone would be in a better position to understand what the Knicks’ needs truly are.

Linas is better then Balkman. They both play solid defense, but Linas is better on offense.

The best thing about the trade is letting go of Randolph. Although I doubt it will happen, because Denver is nervous about the amount of shots between AI, ‘Melo, and Zach. The Knicks would have to take Nene or K-Mart I heard yesterday.

The Artest deal is dying.

Carter in the 3 way deal is alive, but the Knicks are worried about Carter’s long deal. The latest thing I heard is a deal that sends Curry and Balkman to the Heat for Williams and Blount. The Knicks offered cash and Lee and for their first round pick, but no biting yet.

Do you really think this is true? I haven’t seen him play more than a glimpse but per 48 mins the Nugs give up 5 points more when he’s on the court.. .and a 6’8, 245 guy whose reported weakness is foot speed… well, sounds like a tweener who will make his living on O.

I do like him but as you know I have high hopes for Balk if he ever gets on the court, as a real DPOY candidate.

I guess the plus side of all this sitting is that he won’t be too expensive to sign to an extension!

The other question that comes to mind is if Isiah were able to dump ZR on Denver for Linas, would he still be chasing Artest in the offseason? My guess is that Isiah would still make a play for Artest, which would put Linas on the bench – with Balkman, Q, Jeffries, Chandler . . .

It seems 100% consistent with everything Isiah has done since December or 2003.”

I don’t think so. Sure, he’s overawed by fame and offense, but except for Stevie Franchise he’s never gone the route of bringing in the older, fading star. I’d say his appreciation for youth is a plus. You could say that he prefers the never-will-be to the has-been.

That may be, but generally speaking, the question still remains why the Knicks would “covet” a player that doesn’t fill a need — unless the “need” is to dump salaries, which Isiah indicates he has no plans on doing.

“the question still remains why the Knicks would “covet” a player that doesn’t fill a need”

The Knicks have so many needs that there is no one logical place to start. Their need is for good players, and to dump their own bad players. They are way more than a piece or two away from contending. Any assets they can pick up help them in the long run, even if there isn’t a specific short term “need” for him.

Isiah’s quote getting caught up in the echo chamber the way it has is a head scratcher. He says and does far dumber things on an almost daily basis.

All he basically said is that Dolan hasn’t given him an ultimatum about not taking back salary in a deal. For Isola to label that as “jaw-dropping” in the Daily News seems like headline grabbing hyperbole. How does what Isiah said constitute any sort of rhythm change at MSG?

My interpretation is that Isiah said what he said and then muttered under his breath, “How the hell else do you expect me to get rid of Curry and/or Randolph other than by taking back a bad contract?”

I follow two college teams closely: Arizona and Missouri. So I’ve seen Kleiza since his first game at Mizzou. (Denver was interested from day one because Kleiza played with and befriended Josh Kroenke, son of Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke.) He’s a good player; definitely a tweener–a “power” small forward. Think Najera with range on his shot. He doesn’t bring much on defense; he lacks some lateral quickness but he’s by no means a poor athlete.

Depending on who is in a deal for him I see him as redundant. Chandler, to my mind, has far greater upside and Balkman has better versatility on defense.

If I were Denver, for some God unbeknownst reason, were targeting a Knick with a bloated contract that guy would be Jared Jeffries. I don’t actually get their alleged interest in Randolph, other than the connection with the former Portland official. Jeffries on the other hand paired with a legit shotblocker in Camby could help them defensively in a number of matchups by taking some pressure of ‘Melo. On the other hand I don’t see what Randolph even potentially does for them. They surely don’t need another ball stopper with a high usage rate.

If the Knicks are serious about rebuilding, why not get rid of Zach. His salary and contract is huge. The Knicks would get a good player in Linas, Ed Najera (expiring contract) JR Smith (expiring contract) and Steve Hunter, who is gone in 3 years and makes less then 4 a year. Thats a good deal for anyone who is planning on cutting payroll

Denver’s not happening. Nothing’s happening. I would do the Curry straight up for contracts deal w/ Miami, but Isaiah would never admit that the Curry project was a failure. Keep an eye on J. O’Neal though…

“Isiah’s quote getting caught up in the echo chamber the way it has is a head scratcher. He says and does far dumber things on an almost daily basis.”

How could this possibly be a head-scratcher for you. The jaw-dropping nature of Isiah’s latest and greatest is that even in consideration of his weekly demonstrations of idiocy, he still manages to find a way to find a new level of absurdity.

“All he basically said is that Dolan hasn’t given him an ultimatum about not taking back salary in a deal. For Isola to label that as “jaw-dropping” in the Daily News seems like headline grabbing hyperbole. How does what Isiah said constitute any sort of rhythm change at MSG?”

You’re making way too many inferences here. Lets stick to the exact ‘jaw-dropping’ textual evidence, “That’s not our goal [to get under the salary cap].” Perhaps members of the media and posters on this blog might be guilty of complacency, but Isiah has not made any bone-head trades since the Zach Randloph debacle. Obviously that is largely in part due to the fact that there have been zero trades since then, but that’s the point. Isiah’s inactivity on that front has led many to believe that no trades have happened because none of the offers have involved taking on expiring or lesser contracts. Now all of a sudden he expresses that getting under the cap is not his goal and that he would take on long-term contracts jeopordizing any hope of the 2010 class, yes, that is beyond jaw-dropping. It means we actually have to be concerned that he would seriously trade for Vince Carter, lord have mercy.

The player I want to get from Denver is Smith. He would step in and fill our hole at SG immediately and should be cheap to resign in the offseason. Smith is an extremely good offensive player. I know he is not a great defender and a bit of a headcase but he is so young and so talented he is worth taking a shot on.

Over the last two years Smith has averaged over 20 points per 36 minutes and shot over 58% TS% both years. He is extremely effective on the offensive end and longterm if we have Balkman at the SF next to him we would have a great mix of offense and defense.

I would love to get Klenzia as well but he has alot more value so I think we should target Smith.

but who are we supposedly giving up in this Smith deal? why would Denver want any of our mediocre vets with millstone contracts? again, it’s been reported by Vecsey (who is pretty reliable on this kind of thing) that Denver has zero interest in Randolph.

Ya gotta wonder – Steve Kerr has to be giving IT & McHale a run for the (worst GM) title.

Nice move for San Antonio, though I guess this takes them out of the Artest derby.

For all the talk about Artest staying put — don’t you figure they have to end up trading him? They’re in total rebuilding mode so they’re not re-signing a 30 year-old guy. If they don’t trade him, he walks for nothing, so aren’t they pretty much guaranteed to take the best offer? Which will be another expiring deal, plus a first-rounder? Doesn’t it come down to Denver & Houston now? (dark horse: Orlando)